Los Angeles business makes gains

Apples were one of the top fruit items in the Los Angeles market in terms of sales and volume, according to the Fresh Produce & Floral Council’s FPFC Market Report.

Photo by Tom Burfield

Business is up in the Los Angeles market in retail dollars and retail volume, but the region lags behind other areas of California in terms of retail dollars, according to the FPFC Market Report from the La Mirada, Calif.-based Fresh Produce & Floral Council.

The latest quarterly report was released in June and contained data through the week of March 24.

Total produce in the Los Angeles market grew 4% in retail dollars and 8% in retail volume during the latest 52-week period.

“The retail dollar growth trend was primarily driven by the total fruits trend of 9%, while total vegetables were flat,” the report said.

Random-weight items accounted for 62% of total produce retail dollars and 74% of total retail volume.

The top six fruit categories were apples, avocados, bananas, berries, grapes and melons.

Statewide, total produce grew 5% in retail dollars and 6% in retail volume.

The San Diego area saw retail dollars grow 5% and volume grow 8%. Sacramento enjoyed a 6% increase in retail dollar growth but only 2% growth in retail volume, and San Francisco saw total produce grow 6% in retail dollars and 3% in retail volume.

In the organic category, dollar share for the 52-week period increased to 3.9% of the fruit category, up from 3.1% for the previous period. Dollar share for the 52-week period increased to 6.4% of the vegetable category, up from 4.8% for the previous period.

“There was a slight shift to organic in the current year, with fruits growing 0.8 points to 3.9%, and vegetables growing 1.6 points to 6.4%,” the report said.

Additional notes from the report:

For the current 52-week timeframe, average total produce selling price was $1.29 per pound, which was 4% lower than the previous year;

total fruit current year average selling price was $1.34 per pound, up 2% from the prior year;

fixed-weight current year average selling price for fruit was $2.07 per pound, up 4% from the previous year;

random-weight current year average selling price for fruit was $1.15 per pound, unchanged from the previous year;

total vegetable current year average selling price was $1.48 per pound, down 10% from the previous year;

fixed-weight current year average selling price for vegetables was $1.81 per pound, down 1% from the previous year; and

random-weight current year average selling price for vegetables was $1.28 per pound, up 1% from the previous year.

The FPFC Market Report is prepared by Fusion Marketing, Calif., as a benefit for FPFC members.

“It provides a quarterly benchmarking tool that allows you to determine your sales performance against the backdrop of the entire state, specific regions and other products,” according to the council.

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About the Author:

Tom Burfield, Western Correspondent

Tom Burfield has been Western correspondent for The Packer for more than 20 years, and he also writes for Produce Retailer magazine and has contributed to several other Farm Journal Media publications.